NHL

New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins

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Adam Fox leads Rangers past Penguins 6-1 in coach Mike Sullivan's return to Pittsburgh

Zibanejad passes Messier on Rangers' all-time goals list

Sullivan, who coached the Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017, was back for the first time since parting ways with the team in April. Pittsburgh spoiled Sullivan's debut with the Rangers by winning the season opener 3-0 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, but New York exacted a measure of revenge on Saturday.

Mika Zibanejad scored a short-handed goal, his 251st goal with the Rangers, surpassing Mark Messier for the eighth-most in franchise history. Will Cuylle added a power-play goal, and Matt Rempe and Taylor Raddysh also scored for New York, which announced on Saturday that center Vincent Trocheck — a Pittsburgh native — is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

Igor Shesterkin made 18 saves for the Rangers.

Ben Kindel scored his first NHL goal and Bryan Rust returned to Pittsburgh’s lineup after missing the first two games of the season because of a lower-body injury. The Penguins lost for the first time under new coach Dan Muse, a Rangers assistant from 2023-25.

Arturs Silovs stopped 24 shots after shutting out the Rangers on Tuesday.

Sullivan, in addition to his back-to-back championships, had 409 wins with Pittsburgh in 753 games, both team records.

Zibanejad scored at 7:40 of the first period, 23 seconds after a tribute video was played to honor Sullivan. It was Zibanejad’s 12th short-handed goal with the Rangers, tied for fifth-most in franchise history.

New York took command in the second with three goals and a 14-3 advantage in shots.

Fox helped the Rangers regain the lead, 2-1, just 3:02 after Kindel scored. Cuylle made it 3-1 when he tapped in a pass from Conor Sheary, who also won back-to-back championships with Pittsburgh.

Fox scored his second goal from the point five seconds into a power play as the Rangers opened a 4-1 lead.

Up next Rangers: Host the Washington Capitals on Sunday night.

Penguins: Open a three-game West Coast trip Tuesday at Anaheim.

Regular Season Series

Series tied 1-1

Scoring Summary

Goal 1st Period 7:40 Mika Zibanejad Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Sam Carrick (2), Adam Fox (1)
Goal 2nd Period 3:04 Ben Kindel Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Caleb Jones (1)
Goal 2nd Period 6:06 Adam Fox Goal (2) Wrist Shot, assists: Adam Edstrom (1)
Goal 2nd Period 9:25 Will Cuylle Goal (1) Deflected, assists: Conor Sheary (1), Noah Laba (1)
Goal 2nd Period 16:38 Adam Fox Goal (3) Wrist Shot, assists: Artemi Panarin (2), J.T. Miller (2)
Goal 3rd Period 5:40 Matt Rempe Goal (1) Deflected, assists: Adam Edstrom (2), Sam Carrick (3)
Goal 3rd Period 14:12 Taylor Raddysh Goal (1) Wrist Shot, assists: Noah Laba (2), Juuso Parssinen (1)

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/nyr.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originNYR https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/nhl/500/pit.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originPIT
12 Blocked Shots 18
30 Hits 14
8 Takeaways 6
30 Shots 19
2 Power Play Goals 0
4 Power Play Opportunities 4
50.0 Power Play Percentage 0.0
1 Short Handed Goals 0
0 Shootout Goals 0
24 Faceoffs Won 26
48.0 Faceoff Win Percent 52.0
19 Giveaways 18
4 Total Penalties 4
8 Penalty Minutes 8
Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh Penguins Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Tanner Howe, LW Injured Reserve Oct 7
Rutger McGroarty, RW Injured Reserve Oct 6
Jack St. Ivany, D Injured Reserve Oct 6
Kevin Hayes, RW Injured Reserve Oct 6
Joel Blomqvist, G Injured Reserve Oct 6
New York Rangers New York Rangers Injuries
NAME, POS STATUS DATE
Carson Soucy, D Injured Reserve Oct 12
Vincent Trocheck, C Out Oct 11
Brandon Scanlin, D Out Sep 30

Game Information

PPG Paints Arena

Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Attendance: 16,716 | Capacity:

2025-26 Metropolitan Division Standings

TEAM W L PTS OTL
Carolina 3 0 6 0
Washington 3 1 6 0
New Jersey 2 1 4 0
Pittsburgh 2 2 4 0
NY Rangers 2 3 4 0
Philadelphia 1 1 3 1
Columbus 1 2 2 0
NY Islanders 0 3 0 0
Full Standings